Exeter buses dressed for Rugby World Cup
Buses across Exeter have been decked out with scarves’ vinyls welcoming the visiting countries playing Rugby World Cup matches at Sandy Park.
The 50 giant scarves, designed by Storm Press, are in the colours of the five nations playing in Exeter: Tonga, Namibia, Georgia, Italy and Romania. They welcome each country in their native language. Buses will also carry scarves with the traditional ‘Come on England’ message.
A group set up by Exeter City Council and Exeter Chiefs Rugby Club ,and linking with local businesses, developed a range of initiatives to ‘dress Exeter ’including ‘yarn-bombing’ across the city centre.
Martin McGahey, owner of The Tobacconist on Exeter High Street, and part of the city dressing group, said: “The city centre is looking vibrant and we’re ready for the action to begin! Most of the dressing revolves around rugby flags, bunting and banners plus, of course, the fantastic yarn bombing that’s taken place. However, I wanted to see if we could do something a little different and thought adding scarves welcoming all of the visiting teams would be both a friendly and unique gesture.
“Stagecoach really got on board with this idea and I hope people will have fun seeing if they can spot all five plus our England scarf. Let’s give all the visiting teams and their supporters a hearty West Country welcome.”
Helen Scholes, Marketing Manager at Stagecoach South West, said: “It’s great that we have the opportunity to celebrate and embrace the rugby vibe by decorating our buses with these colourful scarves. I hope it will allow the international teams and fans to feel welcome and help our passengers get in the rugby mood.”
Stagecoach is taking the rugby celebrations even further by fitting giant vinyls celebrating the Exeter Chiefs on the back of buses which run on their C service to Sandy Park on home game match days. The buses,will sport visuals of Exeter Chiefs’ top internationals Jack Nowell and Henry Slade, to encourage people to take the bus to games.
Keiron Northcott, Deputy Chief Executive at the Exeter Chiefs, said: “We work hard to ensure match day transport works effectively and it’s great that Stagecoach are encouraging people to travel to Sandy Park by bus. The designs look great and I’m sure will help remind people that taking the bus is a great option for getting to and from games.”
Bob Dennison, Managing Director of Stagecoach South West, said: “As a born and bred New Zealander rugby is, of course, close to my heart. It’s great to live in a city that also embraces my favourite sport – and even better to see our buses getting in on the act.”
Three World Cup matches are being held at Sandy Park: Tonga v Namibia on 29th September, Namibia v Georgia on 7th October and Italy v Romania on 11th October. For these games only, the C service will also be going via Exeter High Street to transport people from the Fan Zone to Sandy Park.
Bob added “Please make sure if you’re using the C to Sandy Park to allow plenty of time to get from the Fanzone to the ground, especially on Tuesday 29th September when kick off falls right in the middle of rush hour and the roads will be extra busy.”
For more information please visit www.stagecoachbus.com. For latest service updates customers can follow Stagecoach on Twitter @stagecoachsw
